Advantages

"Long lasting"

"Beautiful colour"

Disadvantages

"Quite pricey"

Beautiful colours, long lasting

I love Illamasqua nail varnishes. I only discovered them recently but they've quickly become a favourite of mine. I've found these last longer than any other nail polishes that I own and the colours are beautiful. The only thing with these is they are quite pricey so I managed to snap a few up in the sale.

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Everyone needs an Illamasqua nail varnish!!

I own many Illamasqua nail varnishes such as Speckle and I can't remember the other but it's a white varnish. Illamasqua create some amazing shades and the effects they have such as their duck egg shell look, and their new UV ones are just pure genius!

I find with these varnishes is that you can get away with using one, maybe 1 and a bit coats on your nails. They are also great for using as a top coat, and you can really play around with different combinations to make something truly unique!

I applied the speckle varnish to my sisters nails when she went on holiday and she was going in and out of pools all the time and I did expect the varnish to just crumble (as many do) BUT to my amazement they looked about 90% what they did when I applied them a week and a bit ago!!

Now if thats not an amazing test for varnish then I don't know what is!!

PROS: Amazing colours and effects!

CONS: Expensive (which is only a con as I wish I could fill my draws with more!!

Verdict: Put this on your birthday/xmas list! I love these!!

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Excellent polish for creative use and reasonable price

Illamasqua is possibly my favourite make-up brand due to their quality and originality. One reason alone to look at Illamasqua nail polish is to find something different and unique, for example their latest UV Glow Polish which is part of their paranormal collection; you will also find plenty of polishes to choose from as they range from highlighter pink (collide) to pretty pastels (Jan). I own a number of these polishes and have always been impressed with the quality of the polish as I find they are more chip resistant than most and are opaque within 2 or less coats. The polishes are also well known for nail art techniques such as water marbling increasing your creative options. The bottle is nothing new, simple but sophisticated. It would be nice to see something more original from such a creative brand, I also experienced a defect on one of my bottle lids where it separated from the brush, however this was easily fixed. The polish is usually £15 and available at a range of stores including Debenhams, for a high end brand I would consider this a reasonable price for the polish and overall I would highly recommend this product.

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A beautiful range of colours that are unique and a high quality formulation.

Illamasqua Nail Polish-------------------------Illamasqua is a cosmetics brand that came to my attention a couple of years ago, and every product that I have bought to date has impressed me to the extent that several products have become what I determine to be my Holy Grail. The cream blushes for example are absolutely gorgeous, and the Skinbase Foundation is also an outstanding product. They are a British company with a theatrical emphasis so you can expect to see colour and pigmentation in their products.

It was in late February earlier this year, when I was feeling quite "over" the winter weather, that I was giving my nail care collection a sort out, and looking through the shades I had I noticed that there was a particular thread running through them, that being that almost all the colours were of the same ilk- pinky brown. I love these shades as they simply go with everything, but then it occurred to me that a large portion of my wardrobe is actually made up with shades of green and sea blue. I wondered if I could find some nail polishes that would complement these items, and would also be rather cheerful on my nails introducing colour to combat the weather that was dreary and overcast.

I looked to Illamasqua to see if they had any shades that would suffice, and sure enough I discovered two - Rampage, which is described as a dark green jelly and has a glossy finish as shown in the Dooyoo photo, and Veridian which it is said is a Peacock Green and has a metallic finish. Both colours looked beautiful in the swatches on the website at Illamasqua.com, and being a member of the Debenhams Beauty Club I was able to purchase these on an offer day when there were extra points and discounts, but the retail price of these polishes is £14.50 from Illamasqua.com. It seems that these two colours are currently not available from Debenhams online at the moment, but certainly the shades are available from Illamasqua.com. I have also seen them more cheaply on Ebay.

I don't normally spend this much on nail polish as OPI, that I am normally loyal to, are less expensive, but I wanted these two shades and had read some very positive reviews of the shade "Rampage" over on my favourite make up review site at makeupalley.com. I really fell in love with this shade as it is a dark forest green, and has an intensity of colour that makes it unique and rather special. Reviewers over there had awarded this shade 4.8 out of 5, which is a very high score indeed, as reviewers over there are a dedicated group of make-up lovers who really give honest opinions of products, and will quickly seize on inadequately performing items and will slate them without hesitation. So what was my experience of using these polishes and how well did they perform in terms of application, visual appearance and most importantly longevity?

My Experience and Opinion.-------------------------------The polishes are supplied in a black cardboard box which has an open window allowing you to see the colour, and the shade name is printed on the top of the box. This presentation looks stylish and appealing in line with what I would expect for this price. The bottles themselves have flat sides and an attractive square lid, and again this is black which further enhances the sophisticated appearance.

The brush is quite slim, and the polish is quite thin in consistency, so you do have to be a little careful when applying, it isn't the easiest polish to use, but the way it looks on the nail is beautiful. Both these shades need two coats as they require the layers to build intensity, as the first coat has a slightly streaky look to it, but as soon as the second coat is applied the colour takes on a rich hue in both colours I tried, and the result is absolutely beautiful. It glides onto the nails smoothly, builds up nicely and leaves a rich intensity of colour that is deeply pigmented. I use a base coat first, then apply two coats and a top coat before leaving the nails to dry. I like the top coat called "Out the Door" which facilitates quick drying and a lovely glossy finish.

Rampage is the most beautiful green that reminds me of a dense forest - it is a rich deep colour, so not for you if you want a mid or light green effect- this is a serious dark shade. It has excellent longevity too- I find that it matches OPI in terms of durability, and applied well it lasts on me for a week with no touch ups. Even without the top coat you can expect 5 days at least. On holiday I find it lasts even longer, but at home I do a lot of chores so any polish tends to last for less time.

Removal is easy with any remover and I have been impressed too with this aspect as some dark polishes can be difficult to remove.

I haven't spoken much about the other polish I purchased- Veridian. In the bottle this looks absolutely gorgeous, and it goes on like a dream with this intense sea green teal colour that is perfect for holidays and evenings out. In many ways it is more suitable for holidays that Rampage, which is a lovely autumn and winter shade, as the turquoise hue Veridian has lends itself to compliment swimwear and summer outfits perfectly.

I love these polishes and the unique colours they give. Looking on the website today I can see that they have 46 shades to choose from, and many of these offer colours that you may never have thought of using.They are truly in a league of their own when it comes to make up and cosmetics in my opinion in terms of colour choices.

Any Negatives?-----------------I was thinking in my mind as to whether I found any negatives, and I think aside from the price, which is a little steep, I would like to see a slightly wider brush. I like to apply nail polish using the recommended way, which is to apply with three strokes - one down the centre of the nail, and one either side leaving a gap at the edges for the cuticle to breathe. With this brush the coverage is slightly short of where I would like it to be, so a slightly wider brush would be of value here. This is a minor niggle as the polish itself is so good, and the pigmentation and longevity exceed expectations in all aspects.

I can highly recommend this polish from Illamasqua that is the result of two years of research by the company. They set out to produce a very high quality range that I believe they have succeeded with, and that I will continue to re-purchase going forward.

This review will also be posted on Ciao with photographs under my user name Violet1278.